Charging in a rental apartment?

[USJonny]

Hi everybody, I've yet to buy my Tesla and I'm trying to figure out any obstacles I might run into before I make my purchase in a few weeks.

I am currently renting an apartment, and the only 240v outlet I have is used by the dryer, which is conveniently located on the other side of the apartment so I wouldn't be able to unplug the dryer and use the charger with that outlet when needed (not the most ideal thing, but it would've worked if it was closer).

My question is, has anybody here ran into the same problem? Did your property manager let you hire an electrician to install another outlet or a tesla wall charger? What did you do to convince them?
If you weren't able to do so, what do you currently do to charge? I don't feel like charging my Tesla on a 110v outlet its entire life, as that's not feasible.

Thank you.

 

[P3dStealth]

I live in an apartment. My apartment place approved an nema 14-50 outlet in the garage but their electrician wants $800 for it. I find it hilariously overpriced because the circuit breaker panel is in the garage maybe 4ft from where I would want the plug.

So anyway I refused to pay him and just charge off the regular wall outlet. The wall outlet that is also exactly where I would want the plug.

You can charge on a wall outlet it takes a long time but think about how often you are not driving your car. So in the end ask if you can do it and decide if you wanna pay.

 

[The_Observer]

You can probably get something like a dryer buddy to split the outlet into two, with a manual flip switch to switch power to each outlet.

Here's an example: Dryer Buddy™ #2 30A 240v Splitter 5ft. cable NEMA 14-30 (1996+), two 14-30 outlets with kWh/Watt/Volt/Amp meter

They also have them in 10-30, 14-30, 10-50, 14-50 outlets, etc depending on your house, and they also have an automatic version to switch power if you want to pay more.

 

[lUtriaNt]

just ask the management, they may be more willing to install an outlet more than you think.

i live in an apartment with assigned parking. i asked and there was an unused 20a circuit (likely to be used for lighting as it was on the ceiling in the concrete garage) just a couple feet from my spot. their in house electrician installed the outlet for me for 200 bux. cost to charge is free. ive an M3 perf with PUP/FSD and i drive it with my foot in the tank sometimes. i charge to 90% (dont use miles) and when i get home from the office i use up about 18% daily. i keep sentry on all the time since i can charge and it takes about 8 hours ish to charge back to 90, so overnight is plenty for me. Im the only one with an EV at this location. there are 80 units and a two floor garage.

even if i drive around a lot for whatever reason (going on a date, to a spot to hike, etc) and get it to 50-60%, ill get that back in a day ish, so level 1 charging is fine in my opinion, but yes depends on how far you drive per day.

lots of cats live in apartment/condos with NO way to charge whatsoever, so you are not alone if you cant get the option to charge, but I think management wiill hook you up.

 

[Electric700]

You could also install a NEMA 6-20 240 V outlet and get the Tesla adapter. I have one of these and it works very well. You should install a whole-house surge protector too like this one as part of the install (if you don't have one already):

GE Whole Home Surge Protection Unit-Panel Mount-THQLSURGE - The Home Depot

Tesla 6-20 adapter link:
Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

 

[Janus]

If you live near a SuperCharger, going there 1-2 times a week is an option. It's definitely not a great option, and it's not great for the battery either (if 100% of charging is done via SuperCharger).

Another option would be to look for charging options at/near work. Lots of businesses are installing EV chargers. The price is generally a bit more than you'd pay your local utility. Even if your employer doesn't offer charging, use an app like PlugShare to see if any neighboring businesses offer EV charging to the public.